Australia’s School Improvement Framework

Australia’s School Improvement Framework

Robert Hassell

Some Context:

1.Australia is a Federation. There are six states and two territories.

2.The States and Territories are constitutionally responsible for education .3.There are three sectors of Education in

Australia.4.Every school receives funding from several sources.

Information about the National School Improvement Tool can be found at https://www.acer.edu.au/files/NSIT.pdf

Further Context:

The Australian Government with the State and Territory Governments decided that these results were not acceptable

and that the way to improve was at a school level.

PISA Average Reading Score 2000-12Source: Masters ACER (2014) What will it take to turn things around?

PISA Average Mathematics Score 2000-12Source: Masters ACER (2014) What will it take to turn things around?

Other Government Initiatives:• The Australian Curriculum • The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers• The National Professional Standards for Principals• National Standards for initial teacher education• Education Services Australia, which is tasked with

providing digital resources for Australian schools• The My School website, which provides consistent

outcome data on every school in Australia, including results from the National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy

• The National Safe Schools Framework• The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School

Students with Disability • A review of funding for Australian schools

Can you see evidence of learning taking place in these classrooms ? (Make a short list)

• From this very cursory observation, can you suggest improvements that could be made to learning in these

classrooms? • What else would you need to know to answer this

question?

The National School Improvement Tool

1. An explicit improvement agenda2. Analysis and discussion of data3. A culture that promotes learning4. Targeted use of school resources5. An expert teaching team6. Systematic curriculum delivery7. Differentiated teaching and

learning 8. Effective pedagogical practice9. School-community partnerships

The Tool does not describe everything that effective schools do, but focuses on those practices that are most directly related to school-wide improvements, and thus the outcomes for students. In this sense, the Tool can be thought of as a core element of more comprehensive school improvement programs, frameworks and initiatives.” (Masters, 2012, National School Improvement Tool)

National School Improvement Tool Domain 1: An explicit improvement agenda

The school leadership team and/or governing body have established and are driving a strong improvement agenda for the school, grounded in evidence from research and practice and expressed in terms of improvements in measurable student outcomes. Explicit and clear school-wide targets for improvement have been set and communicated to parents and families, teachers and students, with accompanying timelines.

The assessment of this domain includes consideration of the extent to which:• The governing body, school principal and other school leaders are united,

committed to and explicit about their core objective to improve learning outcomes for all students in the school;

• Progress towards targets is monitored and initiatives and programs are systematically evaluated for their effectiveness in producing desired improvements in student learning and performance.

• The school has made an effort to understand current student achievement levels, and how achievement levels have changed over time, including for students in social inclusion priority groups, students at risk of disengaging or who have disengaged from schooling, and students facing disadvantage, including students with a disability, those from non-English speaking backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, those from low-SES backgrounds and regional and remote areas;

The Tool has proven to be generic and flexible:

“The ACER School Improvement review and planning process has been used in schools across the State, Catholic and Independent

sectors in Australia, as well as internationally. The focus of the domains is independent of

system, religious or national context. Without exception the ACER consultants have

commented that the Tool is relevant and useful in all of these contexts as it focuses on teaching

and learning.”

(Seifert, D., Hartnell-Young, E. , 2015 An Effective School Improvement Framework: Using

the National School Improvement Tool,5)

Robert [email protected]

www.acer.edu.au

National School Improvement Toolwww.acer.edu.au/files/NSIT.pdf

For more information on the ACER School Improvement process and the associated research, please contact:

Robert MarshallSenior Project Director, School ImprovementAustralian Council for Educational Research

+61 3 9277 5346+61 0439 665 965

[email protected]